Review: Kiss Quotient

Title: The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
Pages: 288
Rating: 4 stars

This is one of the books everyone has been talking about, at least on Goodreads. Most of my friends have this on their tbr shelf or have read it. So I thought why not. Fast forward a few days later and I was able to read an excerpt of this book thanks to Readers First and I wanted more.

The excerpt ended at a very juicy part and it was frustrating (great marketing tactic by the way). I decided to get the book after I could not overcome the suspense never mind the fact that I was nearly broke. It was worth it though. I was entertained for a few hours and a few days after reading the book.

The Kiss Quotient is mostly about Stella, our main character who is very smart but is not really good with people which translates to her relationships. At the beginning of the book, her mother not so subtly tells her that she needs grandkids and therefore Stella should get down to business. Since she is single, Stella needs to get a guy and also go to bed with him which freaks her out because her last encounters had been awful. Stella being the logical person she is decides to get a person to help her find out how to please a guy among other things. She decides to hire an escort because why not right? This is where Michael our other main character comes in.

If you love romance books which are on the steamier side, then this is for you because it does get steamy. The guy is an escort and did I mention that he is absolutely gorgeous. I noticed some people had a problem with how explicit the book was and so I repeat. “The guy is an escort for heaven’s sake!” You’ve been warned.

Personally I enjoyed reading this book because I loved Stella and Michael. I loved the way he was with her, the way he opened her up to this whole new world of intimacy. He was patient and understanding and clearly understood what consent means. Stella is a sensitive and difficult character. She has all this rules and demands and for the most part has no filter. I was so mortified on her behalf the first time she met Michael’s family. Don’t worry you get to love her as the story progresses and you understand her actions.

I can’t complain about the steamy parts either. Somewhere in the middle of all the romance and the sex were very important issues. Autism is part of this book in a major way. Stella is autistic and it explains a lot of her actions and behavior which many people don’t seem to understand. Michael’s cousin is also autistic which makes it easier for him to understand Stella. The author is also autistic and reading her author’s note and why writing this book was important to her made me love this book even more. Does anyone else even read those notes?

 What stood out for me was how other people’s actions and opinions affected our characters and how they related to each other. Stella’s mom and Philip James “advice” are what push Stella to get an escort. She is made to feel like there is something wrong with her and she needs to be fixed. Michael on the other hand has daddy issues. He is afraid that if people find out about his dad they will judge him. This explains why he does not have serious relationships because he is afraid that he will turn out like his dad. This is sad because it brought about a lot of grief for him and Stella.

The ending was perfect although it felt a little rushed to me. If you have the time and romance is your thing, get this book and tell me what you think.